Around The World In Eighty Years
by Pebbleclaw
Summary: Edward and Bella decide to travel the world.
1. Intro

**Disclaimer**

I own nothing.

**Warning**

Gory scenes.

**Introduction**

Edward and Bella decide to travel the world.

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**_Comment Replies_**

AsterEris - Hahaha...vampire mermaid. Cool story - I like it's...casualness? casuosity? 0.o What IS the right way to say that? Anyway though, I'm nearing the end of "The Host" (really good, I wasn't going to read it but I'm glad I did) and it's quite intense, so this is welcome break. There's only one tiny, itsy-bitsy snag...as far as I know, sharks do not have 'blood' in the vampire-food sense. I might be wrong, but my childhood spent watching Animal Planet leaves the impression in my head that sharks are not made up of flesh but of cartilage, and their blood is produced in different ways. However, I suppose the only difference could be taste...so my point is null. I like the beginning - now I'm on to read the rest. Very good story so far. -ASTER

_Sharks are cartiligious which means they have cartilidge instead of bones. This does not mean that they do not have blood. Every vertebrate has blood._

AsterEris - No! Not a dolphin! :'( But good anyway! :D Very descriptive, although it'd be nice to know exactly where they are. Dunno how many places in the Pacific Ocean you find long stretches of white sand and dolphins. Well...maybe Hawaii...Eastern Asia...I suppose I'm not much of an expert on those sorts of things. Excellent writing, capital idea! Can't think of much else to say...0.o -ASTER

_There are two species of dolphin - the common dolphin and the bottlenose dolphin - that are found almost everywhere in the ocean. Also, I never said there was white sand. There was white fish, but the sand was yellow. So basically you can be anywhere in the world you want to be (except the poles). But because the Cullens (I think) were supposed to go to Alaska after Forks, I chose the ocean that bordered Alaska._

Chompy - My dearest Sare-Sare. I like you as an author, but you are very slow. Seriously like one page per week. It's annoying. Geezz girl, quick, quick, quick!! :) Love you darls

_Who the hell is Chompy and how do you know my nickname?_


	2. I Want To Travel

**Chapter 1**

**I Want To Travel**

It came to me while I was devouring a mountain lion. I had a sudden remembrance of a conversation earlier in my life, when Edward and I were arguing over my vampirism.

"_It won't be the same for me," _I'd whispered_. "You won't let me be like that. We'll live in Antarctica."_

Edward had snorted._ "Penguins. Lovely."_

It was because I'd had the same food for over a decade now. Mountain lions, bears and deer. That pretty much summed up my diet. While their blood was somewhat delectable, it was all too familiar. I considered what it would be like to lap up the blood of a different, more _exotic_ animal, like a polar bear or a tiger or... or a _shark_. That made my mouth water. What an unusual taste it would be, surely. The salt running through its veins would be an enormously new experience for me.

I finished the mountain lion I was draining and waited for Edward. I'd made up my mind in the less than three seconds since I'd first considered it.

My husband bounded through the trees, his eyes now a deep butterscotch. He saw my thoughtful expression and took me in his arms.

Immediately recognising what he wanted, I lifted my defences and allowed him to poke around inside my head.

He was stunned, to say the least. This was certainly the very last thing I would have thought of. I'd never cared much for travelling the world, but now that I was going to live forever, and I had the memory to withstand every ounce of detail, it seemed an impeccable idea.

I knew what he was thinking. _What about the sunlight_? I'd considered it, too. But I was hardly going to let that hold me back from my new sudden dream.

"The colder places will be fine," I reassured. "And we can just cover up in the hotter places - huge hats are bound to be commonplace if it's hot, and they'll shade our faces. Besides, we don't really have to live anywhere. We can go bush." I suddenly marvelled in the idea of living in the wilderness, free from civilisation and prying eyes, free to do what we wanted. "And sightsee by night."

If he was stunned before, he was shocked now. Eventually he grinned and stroked my bare cheek with the back of his forefinger. "Sounds like a plan," he whispered.

"Really?" I never thought he would even consider it.

"I've always wanted to taste polar bears," he laughed, and I swatted him on the arm.

"So you _really_ want to go?" I asked.

His jaw was clenched. "It will be a bit difficult," he admitted. "But I reckon we could do it."

I sighed. "Edward, I know you don't w-"

"Who said I didn't want to?" he interrupted. "I'm concerned, that's it. I'd _love_ to."

"Hmmm."

"So, where do you want to start?"

"Shouldn't we tell the rest of the family first?"

"Oh yeah, probably." And with that, he took my hand and we were off through the woods.

A couple of hours later we reached the big glass Cullen house. Everyone was waiting for us inside - Alice was bouncing up and down with excitement. I groaned as I realized she must have envisioned it and told them.

Carlisle stood up expectantly. All eyes were on us as we entered the living room.

Emmett was grinning from ear to ear, obviously delighted that we would be so reckless and ignorant to secrecy. Jasper frowned, concerned that our plan was going to lead to Volturi problems. Carlisle was anxious, Esme was happy, Rosalie was typically angry that she hadn't thought of it first. Alice was delirious with excitement.

"As you already know," Edward began. "Bella and I are going to travel the world. And _no_, Alice, you _are not coming_."

Alice pouted. "Fine. But I'll be watching everything you do."

Of course she would.

"So, where are you planning on going first?" Carlisle asked, maintaining a calm facade.

"We're not..." Edward trailed off and I realized I had a massive grin plastered on my face. "What are you thinking?" he muttered warily.

I turned to him, eyes bright with excitement. So this is what it felt like to be Alice. I didn't bother raising my mind shield - I wanted everyone to hear this.

"We don't have to breathe, right?"

"No, we don't," he answered, still cautious.

"And we don't mind the temperature," I continued. My voice was rising.

"No." His eyebrows raised, curious now.

"We also don't need to bother with toilets..."

"Bella, just spit it out!"

"I want to live in the ocean."

I had to admit, bulging eyes on a vampire - especially one as inhumanly beautiful as Edward - looked extremely amusing. Alice's eyes were blank - she was staring into the future - but the enthusiasm was broadcasted all over her face. Carlisle remained calm as always. Emmett was rolling on the floor with laughter, Rosalie was huffing at him. Jasper was quiet, his look thoughtful. Esme was happy for me.

"Hahahahaha!" Emmett roared. "Vampire mermaid!"

I laughed.

Edward turned to me. "Are you sure?" he said quietly.

I nodded. "Of course I am. I want to taste a shark."

At the mention of food, Edward's face relaxed. "Okay, what ocean?"

"I was thinking we could just go to the beach and start swimming, see where it takes us."

Edward looked at Alice, deciphering her brain, watching her visions with her. "Hmm, interesting," he murmured.

"So you want to?" I asked.

"Sounds like quite an adventure," he chuckled.

I beamed.


	3. Pacific Ocean

_Edward: Sorry, SkepticalNightmare, but they are just so tasty..._

**Pacific Ocean**

**2018**

We stood atop the cliff, staring at the setting sun. Its orange and pink rays glimmered off our skin, casting tiny spotlights on the grass around us. Without a word, I clutched Edward's hand and jumped.

With a loud splash, we landed gracefully in the roaring water. The current swirled around us, trying in vain to pull us to our deaths, but it was all too easy to stay afloat.

I laughed. If I still had blood, it would be pumping with adrenaline. The water smacked into my body, sending small waves hurtling backward as though it had hit a rock.

"You excited?" I asked, my own excitement flooding my voice.

Edward was treading water beside me, still holding my hand. His eyes gleamed with eagerness but was tainted with doubt. He nodded, his wet bronze hair swishing and sending minute droplets of salty water everywhere.

"Well, I may not breathe again for ages, maybe even years," he commented, then dramatically took a huge breath.

I copied him, giggling.

We dived below the surface, grinning. The water was a deep green-blue - a rich, shining teal. Metres below us the sand quivered with the current, waves of gold dust blowing along the bottom. A white fish darted amongst the masses of seaweed, picking at the clusters of olive and brown. Rocks jutted out sharply from the side of the cliff, reaching out with stone claws. Large pointy boulders dotted the landscape, housing clumps of dirt- and smoke-coloured coral. A crab scuttled over a boulder, clacking its pincers as it pounced desperately on every little fish that swam past.

It was rather uncomfortable to not breathe, but it was nothing I couldn't live with. I kept accidentally going to inhale: water would pour through my nose and collect in my dead lungs. It was a weird feeling, have so much water in my lungs and not drowning.

I kicked my legs experimentally and the power of it sent me shooting through the water, where I tumbled into a rock, sending the fish scattering. Edward chuckled, though no bubbles came from his mouth; he must have water-filled lungs as well.

I jumped back up, the force of my action leaving a noticeable dent in the rock. "Race you," I called, though it came out more like "Mmmmmaaayyyyyoooooo."

But I set off anyway, and a couple of nanoseconds later Edward understood and pushed through the water, his movement and strength better than a hundred Olympic swimmers.

We swam neck in neck for a few miles. It was exhilarating, the H2O sweeping past me like wind. The rocks became scarcer and scarcer as we went further out, to be replaced by a vast expanse of dull lifeless beige sand, stretching as far as I could see.

Finally I stopped, Edward instantly halting as well. I spotted a mass in the distance - a ball of glimmering silver specks. And in the midst, a bigger, pale grey shape.

"Aaasssmmmmrrrkk!" I cried out. _A shark_! Edward peered at me curiously. So this was the downfall of living underwater: the lack of communication. I may not be able to understand Edward, but he could understand me if...

I pushed my mind shield from me, yelling "look, a shark!" at the top of my mental voice. He cringed at the sudden explosion of noise, and I quickly pulled the shield back.

He grabbed his neck with his hands and strangled himself playfully. Then he looked at me questioningly. _You want to eat_? he was asking.

I nodded, elated. Just a few more minutes until I could sink my teeth into a whole new flavour...

He grabbed my arm and we raced toward the mass, our bodies sliding effortlessly closer. As we approached I realized that it wasn't a shark - it was a dolphin. And there were more dolphins circling above and below, herding the fish together into a tighter ball. The dolphin inside snapped up some fish before returning to the outside, letting another dolphin jump in and feed.

I hadn't planned on eating dolphins, but now the opportunity was here... Mmmm.... I wondered what other animals we would encounter. Sharks... whales... possibly seals... turtles... giant sea fish probably... those albatrosses on the Discovery channel seemed pretty big... and tasty...

Edward's eyes were a deep chocolate. He was hungry, too.

The dolphins saw us, and thinking we were curious human divers, ignored us. We snuck closer and closer. They seemed to panic more - _do they want our fish?_ - but were reluctant to leave the giant glimmering ball. Eventually, after we were only a few metres away, they listened to their flight instincts - with a flurry of bubbles they took off, whistling and squeaking. But vampires are fast - faster than dolphins.

I lunged forward, grabbing hold of a flailing tail. The dolphin squealed in fear, thrashing about and waving its flippers, desperate to escape. I reined it in, dragging its tossing body closer to my mouth. Gripping around its waist with iron hands, I sunk my teeth into its pulsing jugular.

It squirmed as I tucked in, feeling the warm blood slide down my throat. It was delicious - salty and fatty, just like the French fries I could never eat again. Blood slipped from my lips, fleeing into the ocean. I finished draining the animal - it fell limp in my arms - and leaped onto the swirling crimson, lapping it up like a dog at its water bowl.

Felling full and very satisfied, I turned to see Edward just finishing off his catch. He pushed it away and looked up at me, his eyes shining like topazes.

_**I thought you guys should know that I am not continuing this story. I am an avid animal rights activist and I thought that I would be able to deal with writing this story. But I can't write like this any more. It's too hard and I don't was to dissuade people from the fact that animals feel pain and fear. Sorry, but no amount of begging will change my decision.**_


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